A Tube line used by tens of thousands of City workers every day is to be shut down by strike action voted for by just three staff, Tube bosses claimed today.

The Waterloo and City line will close in a 48-hour walkout by control room workers that will reignite the row over the legitimacy of industrial action in Britain.

The line linking London Waterloo with Bank station, which is just over a mile long and has more than 35,000 daily commuters, will shut next Monday from 9pm in a dispute over pay and conditions.

Strike: The Waterloo and City line will close in a 48-hour walkout by control room staff at Waterloo (pictured) but Tube bosses claim only three people voted for it

Diversion: The 35,000 commuters who usually use the Waterloo and City every day will be forced to use already packed lines like the Northern Line (pictured)

But today a row erupted between London Underground and union leaders over how many people actually voted for the proposed strike.

Tube bosses said that of the six control staff eligible to vote only three demanded the walkout while the Rail, Maritime and Transport union say that there were 24 voters and all asked to strike.

Richard Tracey, the Greater London Assembly's Conservative spokesman for transport, said: 'It is disgraceful that such a tiny number of people should be able to cause huge disruption on a major route into the City.

'This is exactly the sort industrial action we have been complaining about.'

In recent months Londoners have suffered after weeks of crippling strike action by four unions over Boris Johnson's plans for 24-hour services on some lines.

In the row over the Waterloo and City line, Tube bosses say that their union counterparts are unwilling to bend in their demand for more money.

Share this article

Share

100 shares

Peter McNaught, London Underground's operations director for the Waterloo and City line, said: 'We are working on our resilience plan to minimise the impact on the line should this unnecessary strike action go ahead.

'We've been in extensive discussions with the RMT over this issue during the past year and we've presented various options to bring this dispute to an end.

'These have included exploring development opportunities to help progress the careers of the staff concerned as well as allocating additional responsibilities that would justify a salary increase.

'Unfortunately all of these options have been rejected outright by the RMT who appear determined to demand more money for no additional work or responsibility.

'We remain committed to discussions with the RMT representatives and I urge them to consider the options we've proposed rather than threaten industrial action.'

Diversion: The line's 35,000 daily commuters face their average commute taking more than an hour because of the dispute

But the RMT maintain that the strike is legitimate.

RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: 'London Underground management must be clear by now on our members' legitimate and reasonable demand for regrading.

'The union has re-iterated that we will not accept an offer which is based on a change in staff duties or which would cause a detriment to other members.'

The strike will reignite the row over how many people need to vote to start a strike.

The Government wants to change it so at least half of all union members eligible to vote must vote and 40 per cent of those must vote for strike action.

This month union barons were preparing to bring the country to a standstill with the first general strike for almost 90 years.

Hardline bosses of unions who backed Jeremy Corbyn to be Labour leader want to stage a 'militant' campaign against a government crackdown on strikes, including backing for workers who break the law.

Mr Corbyn is expected to lead opposition to the plans which would make it harder for key public services to be disrupted by walkouts.

Last month the launch of an all-night Tube service in London was delayed after bowed to union pressure.

Transport for London (TfL) confirmed the nightly service, which was due to be launched on September 12, had now been postponed until a later date in the autumn.

It failed to give an exact date over when the Friday and Saturday night service would start, as it deferred the launch following months of wrangling with the unions who set out a list of key demands over pay and working conditions for Tube drivers.